Tangled Strings of Red
by NightOwlCC
Summary: Passionate and knowledge-thirsty, Amara finds herself tangled up in some dark secrets of the post-WWIII political world. At the same time, a red string untangles, pulling together two lovers who defy the world with their existence. Rating might turn to M later for mentions of gore. Various pairings, OCxCanon and CanonxCanon. Mostly KandaxOC / OCXTyki. Mixed genre. Alter-Universe.
1. Off to London

Extended summary:

This story is an Alter-Universe setup with the purpose of pointing out the major flaws of human nature and modern society, through the eyes of the different characters involved. Besides the typical Akuma and Noah versus the Black Order conflict, they have to survive in a post-World War Three society dominated by the higher class, with opportunities and technological advances, but little to no regards for life in general. A very strict and authority-abusing system is very likely to occur in a highly polarized society such as the one in this story, which only adds pressure on the characters. Some thrive in this environment, while others slowly whither, but there are a few trying to change it. "Tangled Strings of Red" follows Amara, Allen, Lavi, Kanda and Lenalee from the moment of Amara and Allen enrolling into the Black Order. It also touches up on the character of Marian Cross, along with some minor OCs created to fill in the gaps, and I've been experimenting with a second narrative thread centered around the family of Noah.

Key events:

World War Three  
Invasion of the European Headquarters of the Black Order (20 years prior)  
European Civil War(15 years prior, created the European Federation)  
The death of a canon character at the hands of another (beginning of the series / spoiler alert, non-canon)

Author:

I am not a native English speaker, but since I could not find a beta on time, I began publishing this story on my own. Please, point out any mistakes or plot holes you might spot, as well as inconsistencies or out-of-character moments for any of the characters. I will try to keep this as accurate as possible. Please review, favorite and follow.

Expectations:

I have written a few other very successful stories for different fandoms, so some of you may remember me. For those unfamiliar with my writing, expect everything and anything. Expect character death (both original and canon), popular or less than popular ships, whiplash events, references to art, history or real life events / personalities. It is common for my stories to turn from comedy to tragedy extremely fast, so stick around. I promise it will have something for everyone!

* * *

_Dear journal, _

_Today makes the last day of September and with it, the end of summer, for good. My master, who has been traveling the far east, sent his second apprentice to join the ranks of the Black Order. _

_Since early April, I've been enjoying my best life here, in the streets of Sorrento. I've been doing nothing but training in the art of fire juggling, and I believe I have an admirer. There is a group of three men and a little blonde boy who usually stop and watch me perform, though they rarely ever leave me money. I don't blame them though, they look like they're struggling as well. One of them hasn't missed one of my performances and honestly, if I stayed for a little longer, I think we might start talking at some point. It's a shame I have to leave so soon. _

_Tonight will be my very last performance. General Cross had made it clear that I may only take a vacation until Allen will be ready to become an exorcist. The money I saved will help us finish our journey to the dark and gloomy London._

_In case I die and someone is to find this journal, please publish it so that I won't be forgotten. I am not afraid of death, but oblivion. My name is Amarantha Maria Salvatore, I am from Sorrento, and I am going to join as an exorcist at the same time as Allen Walker. We are the only apprentices of General Marian Cross. _

_Also, if I die, and if someone knows which one of the unmarked urns contains my ashes, I'd love them buried at the root of an orange tree. If, by chance, I survive my time at the Black Order, I'm going to plant an orange tree and keep it in my apartment, no matter how small. _

_Today makes my first entry. My master warned me of some horrors hiding in the guts of this organization, so if I am to come across any of them, this journal will be the first to know._

_Amara,  
Sep. 30, Sorrento, Campania, Italy_

The journal closed shut. It was a thick notebook with many pages, slightly glossy on one side and matte on the other. Amara was pleased that her ink didn't bleed through. She looked at the clock hologram on the wall and sighed. It was only five in the afternoon and there was still some light in the streets.

She took a shower in a tiny, cramped bathroom. The mirror on the back of the door turned foggy fast, but she could still see her blurred figure on it. A small, thin body covered in scars and burning marks was blending into the hideous washout yellow wall behind her. Her purple hair was standing out a little bit, but yet again, when it met the water pouring from the shower head, it let loose part of its pigment. With every bath, her hair was fading back to its original black.

Amara turned the water off and wrapped a tower around herself. She had to dry in her room, since the bathroom was too small to be comfortable. The girl then turned on the screen on the wall by waving her hand at it and found a music channel to play in the background. She had a money vine growing wildly and conquering the wall to her left. A feeling of sadness and regret washed over her as she took one last glance at it.

Amara got dressed in her fire suit. The thighs and sleeveless top were made of leather that's been treated to be fireproof, but her flats were just ordinary shoes. Hopefully, she won't drop any coal on her feet tonight. It wasn't anything too bad, but far from pleasant.

She dried her hair with a towel and began braiding it into tiny rows across her head. The lengths were spun into a tight updo, in hopes it will prevent her hair from burning. She took an electric gun with her just in case, and her Innocence as well. Her master had crafted her weapon as a set of two twin hairpins, which could extend and attack when necessary, and were always on hand.

The girl began doing her makeup, dark and sexy, having fun with her newest found love – a dark eyeliner sparkling purple and blue, as if she was wearing the night around her eyes. By the time she was done, the sun was already setting.

Amara checked her fire-bees to see they were in perfect condition. She mixed unrefined oil with gunpowder and prepared a few chemical beads to strap to her wrists like bracelets. Those were going to amaze the audience and hopefully earn her some more cash.

Sighing, she packed up only two pairs of pants, some underwear, a spare bra and three shirts. She didn't have any clothes fit for the colder weather. Since she was going to London and summer was basically ending all over Europe, there was no point in packing shorts and tiny backless tops, so she left those behind. She also left behind her phone and her tablet, since the government could easily track those. The money vine had to stay, sadly, but maybe she could take a cutting with her. The girl cut one end of the vine and wrapped its wounded end in wet napkins, then tied a piece of plastic around it to prevent it from evaporating.

After she wrote a note explaining she will be leaving on the 30th and only leaving behind the money for half a month worth of rent, she took her bag and left. Amara locked the door and then slipped the key under the door, aware that the landlord will find it.

She didn't want to pay to use the lift, so she walked down the stairs. In the large megalopolis of Campania, if there was some way to make money, there was someone taking advantage of it. The same landlord owned the 28-story block of flats and the rest of the Sorrento quarter, and since it was private property, if they wanted to impose a fee for using the elevator, they could, and they did.

Amara rushed down the stairs from the eleventh floor and into the streets. It was almost impossible to see the sky because of the new buildings, overshadowing people at the bottom. The term 'higher class' literally referred to those living at the greatest heights now, as they had access to gardens created at the top of those buildings, cleaner air and sunshine, while the rest of the population lived like rats.

But it wasn't all that bad. Amara found kindness among those rat-people, as the lower they lived, the harder life was alone, so they were more likely to be kind to one another and help each other.

The very unfortunate lived underground. Those people were strange, kind of gone mentally, alcoholics and drug-addicts, or simply in a wrong place. During her stay, Amara learned to avoid them and the areas they considered their territory.

The Police was also to be avoided. Anyone caught doing something against the law could be beaten to death if Police had even the slightest clue that they posed any danger to anyone, no matter how exaggerated their claim. The laws were essentially good, mostly, but also bendable, which allowed the enforcers of the law to dive deep into the sadistic, animalistic side of human nature.

The fear of demons was as strong as that of terrorists. Akuma taking the form of ordinary humans only served to blur the line between the two and fuel the hatred in everyone's heart, hatred sprung from uncertainty and fear. There were more deaths today than in any other point in history, but the population was also very numerous, so fear of extinction was not a common topic of conversation. It was federal law in Europe that families could only have two children at most, and if they were to have triplets, for example, they were to give one for adoption or have the weakest be used in medical experiments.

Amara was just another figure making her way between people, until she reached her spot. It was down an alley, far from unwanted eyes, far from the cars rushing by, and from the Police patrolling the area. She set her bag against the wall and let her fire-bees in oil to soak. Those were large coals enclosed in metal mesh, hang at the end of metal chains with a ring on the other end.

A few people stopped by already, waiting for the show to begin. Those were all part of the lower class, but not of the underground people. They were the losers living anywhere from the 30th floor to the ground floor, working 60-hour weeks, having one or two children, eating fake food, breathing in the chemicals and the pollution, and the main subject of Police brutality.

"So, you're leaving…"

A thick voice echoed behind her in a sigh and a small cloud of smoke reached Amara once she turned her attention towards it. She recognized him as the leader of the group of workers, the one who looked so lean and well built underneath a ragged white shirt, hiding his eyes behind a pair of mirrored black glasses with round frames.

"…You saw my bag, huh?"

No response followed, but they both knew that was what gave her away.

"I'm off to London."

He nodded. "I see… Not a very pretty place, so I suppose you're there with business."

"I'll tell you for a cigarette, and a fire."

The man chuckled. It was harder and harder to get good cigarettes for a reasonable price, with the Government raising the taxes from one day to the next, and contraband scarce as well. The Police was doing its job really well, being promised wild rewards for catching criminals. They even had a ranking for criminals, by which they were rewarded.

"I noticed yours aren't branded. You should be more careful."

He gave in and pulled out a mobile phone. It opened to reveal several cigarettes hidden away inside the carcass. Amara took one.

"Now you can't turn me in."

She grinned as he lit her cigarette. "I wouldn't have done that anyway. That's not to say I wouldn't have threatened you, though."

"So? What are you doing in London?"

"Enrolling in the Black Order."

"Oh?" He looked genuinely surprised.

"Do you know them?"

He turned to look away, trying to catch a glimpse of the dark night sky.

"I know them… I didn't expect you to be an Exorcist, that's all."

Amara noticed his voice had become darker, as if he had changed for a second into someone else, or something…

"My master let me stay here until his other apprentice will be ready to enroll. The Order doesn't know about us yet, so… I tried to get a taste of life one last time. Most Exorcists don't retire, I guess you've heard."

He nodded. This girl spoke of the possibility of dying violently on the battlefield as if it was nothing! She wasn't crying or losing her mind, she wasn't trembling in fear, trying to run away or hide… No, none of that.

"You should begin…" he gestured towards the crowd that had already gathered.

Amara turned to them and grinned widely. "Let me smoke first. I've only got half left, anyway."

The man waited for her to smoke, and then watched the performance absent-mindedly. So, she was an Exorcist… He thought he felt some Innocence nearby, but with so many people around, it was difficult to tell where it was coming from. How come he never thought of her? And besides, he wanted to sleep with her. How will that work out if she was an Exorcist?

His human part that kept surviving in him found her quite beautiful, while his demon side was impressed with her mobility and flexible body. After their brief encounter, he was certain she did have some interest in him as well, as she was open and excited about talking to him. His human half was feeling strange since he saw her smiling.

As her audience was cheering her on, the girl released little beads of something which rolled down her hands and into the fire. Colorful sparks began flying all around, as if she was throwing fireworks! He never saw anything like this before.

This time, the show had lasted longer than before. It was a good-bye to Campania, it seems, and one which will be remembered. The people were in awe, showering the girl in money and applause, but the noise didn't go unnoticed.

Police immediately closed both ends of the alley. People began to panic, desperately looking for an escape, as the policemen were beating their way through, slowly approaching Amara and her admirer.

The girl had gathered her things in a second and was about to activate her weapon, trying to make a run for her life, when a hot hand grabbed her arm.

The man gestured her to remain silent and dragged her through a wall, with the ease of stepping through a curtain. They began to run through things as they had found themselves inside a storage room of some sort. In this fashion, they managed to cross through several buildings and make it to safety on a boulevard crowded with stores, restaurants and interminable crowds of people.

"Hey, thanks for… earlier."

As Amara wanted to show her gratitude, the man was gone. There was no trace of him, but she knew he had been right there half a second ago. Was he a demon? He looked far more intelligent than an Akuma. Was he a Noah, then? That would make him part of the higher society, so why mingle with the lower class? It would explain why he seemed disappointed to find out she was an Exorcist, but it made the fact that he saved her even more confusing.

The girl made her way towards the train station. Allen's train was supposed to arrive around eight, and she would have to get in.

Amara stopped by a trashcan. She threw away the cigarette butt, but remained indecisive as she looked at her fire-bees. Would she use them again? Was there any time in the life of an Exorcist to have fun and enjoy life?

The answer was probably not favorable, but she couldn't bring herself to let them go. Amara gathered them quickly and stuffed them into her bag, then rushed to the train station. There were city trains that could have taken her there, but once again, she didn't want to pay.

Just as the federal train was about to leave, Amara managed to run to its door and slip inside. She leaned in the corner, gasping for air and trying to catch her breath, while her mind kept wondering about the man from before, the one who attended her performances on a regular.

A young man with an odd scar on his face and white hair walked up to her with a smile.

"Hi! Amara, right? General Cross said I'll recognize you by your hair."

She nodded. "Yeah. You're Allen, then?"

The boy nodded. "I got some tea from the barbot. Do you want me to order some for you?"

Amara stood up and shook her head. "Tea is the last thing I want. A sangria would go much better!"

"What's that?"

The girl threw him a look. "You don't know? Honestly."

Allen looked confused. "…No?"

"Our master loves it. Are you sure you don't know? Red wine with fruits and ice."

"I didn't really have time to sit for a drink with him. I was too busy dodging his attacks."

"You missed out."

Amara followed him to their compartment. There was a robot in every wagon that could prepare basic bar drinks by following preset instructions. After leaving her bag, Amara went to the barbot and ordered her drink of choice.

"How old are you?" she asked Allen.

"Fifteen. And you?"

That explained his innocence… "Eighteen."

"When's your birthday?"

"21st of May."

"Ah! So you're a Taurus!"

"…I'm a cusps."

"What's that?"

"Look it up."

"My birthday is tomorrow, and I was adopted on the 25th of December."

That drew her attention. Adopted on Christmas?

"…Happy birthday. You talk a lot, you know?"

"Do I bother you?"

"Not much, but I'm used to doing most of the talking."

The two walked back to their compartment.

"Do you know cards?" but Amara shook her head. "Chess? Dominos? Bar Dice?"

The girl kept shaking her head. "Nope. None of these."

"What do you do for fun?"

"I'm a fire-juggler, but I can't show you while we're on a train."

"What if I teach you? I have two dice and that's all we need! Or, well, maybe something to keep track of our points."

Amara took out her journal and a pen. "Like this?"

"How about a phone?" he chuckled.

"Yes, of course, go ahead and use it constantly. They will know your location, and listen to your conversations. Great idea, indeed!"

Allen shrugged. "So what? It's not like I've got anything to hide."

Amara then snatched his phone and threw it out the window of the train as it was going full speed. Allen was on his feet instantly, leaning through the open window.

"What! Why!" the boy cried, but the deed had been done.

"There! Now we can talk!" Amara stretched her arms and took a sip of her drink. "Do you have anything else that can be tracked?"

The boy shook his head. "I won that one in cards last week and I really liked it! I had to win twenty games for it…"

"Well, there are plenty of reasons why our master didn't allow these. Besides, you can't make your way through some places with them, and you certainly can't get any kind of connections."

Allen was confused, to say the least. "What are you talking about? Everybody has a phone."

"Yes, but they leave it behind when they do business." As it was obvious he didn't understand, Amara sighed and decided to explain. "Contraband. The black market. The underground. You can get anything from anyone for the right price – from cigarettes to human slaves to demon parts."

"Demon parts?!"

"Listen – don't even think about this once we reach the Order, 'cause I heard they have devices that can read your thoughts. There's a new movement in Vatican, they call themselves the Demon Slayers. Ex-Exorcists, Ex-Finders, and ordinary humans that train in the occult and call themselves Hunters had gathered up and want to overthrow the Black Order. The Hunters use demon bones and blood to make their weapons stronger. We use Innocence, they use bits of Dark Matter left behind by Noah or Akuma."

The boy's eyes widened in shock. "How… How do you know this? Akuma remains are toxic. How do they do it?"

"I got with the right kind of people. I'd never say who told me, and I don't even know their real name, but I know this organization exists and that's all that matters. If things go bad with the Order, we have another option. I don't know all the details, but it's good to know they exist, understand?"

"…What about retiring and living like ordinary people?"

Amara rolled her eyes just as the train was crossing the bridge between the old continent and the British islands.

"Have you looked into a mirror lately? You could never pass for a normal kid! Neither could I, in fact. We're already too odd…"

"I don't know… I kind of just want to retire one day and have a family and grow old with a girl that loves me."

"Then you're a fool, but don't worry. Dreams die fast once you see the battlefield."

"No, they don't!"

Allen stood up and stomped out of their compartment. How could she say such things?!

Right behind him, with a morbid calm and a bitter chuckle, Amara followed as she carried both of their bags. The train was already in London, less than two hours after leaving Campania.

As they were making their way through the crowds at the station, Amara threw his bag towards him.

"Catch, shorty!"

Too slow in front of gravity, Allen caught the bag with his face and fell backwards, growling.

Amara swung her bag over her shoulder. She was amused, but at the same time, looking out for signs of danger. The thought of the stranger who had to be a Noah was lingering in the back of her mind.

"Why are you so…!"

The boy stood up and dusted his clothes. He made sure to keep pace, as Amara was rather fast for someone of her stature. She wasn't extremely short, but not exactly on the tall side either.

At one point, they became separated just after leaving the train station and Amara could swear that she caught a taste of smoke in the air, the same kind she had earlier that day! Was he on the same train? It would have been impossible to reach them so fast otherwise. Or perhaps she wasn't thinking correctly! The Noah didn't depend on human technology and inventions.

A hand caught hers and she jumped, turning around on her heels.

"Sorry!" Allen apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you! Are you alright? I called out for you but I don't think you heard me."

She shook her head and slapped her forehead slightly. "I'm alright, just letting some stupid thought distract me."

"What thought?" her friend asked.

"Doesn't matter. I just thought I sensed something familiar."

"Can you sense them somehow?"

Amara looked at him strangely. "Sense what?"

"Akuma. Can you?"

She shook her head. "What kind of question is that? I heard the Order has some new device that can detect them, but I don't have it since I've never been to their headquarters."

"I can see them with this eye. Well, not really the Akuma, but the soul trapped inside. Did you know that they look the most peaceful when the Akuma is destroyed with Innocence? The soul is freed and they find peace. It's a wonderful sight."

Amara was impressed. "…I don't think I'd be able to fight if I saw actual human souls inside those things."

* * *

_Note:_

_This is the pilot chapter of my newest story, published without a beta reader's help. I am not native in English and this is just something I wrote for fun. I don't intend it to be extremely long and there will be large time skips in the story. _

_I envisioned DGM in a futuristic, post World War Three alter universe. If you have any questions, or notice any inconsistencies, please notify me. _

_Comment, favorite, follow. You will be loved. _

_DISCLAIMER:  
__I do not own -Man or the canon characters and plot. I do not own the cover picture and I don't know the artist.  
What I do own is this story, this plot and AU, my original characters and my interpretation of the canon characters. _


	2. Headquarters of the Black Order

As they kept talking, they eventually reached the headquarters. When it was built, it had been just outside the city of London, but now it was part of the old quarter which included the entire city from the beginning of the century and its surroundings. Destroyed and rebuilt several times over history, the headquarters were hosted by a spectacular building, reuniting elements of old architecture with the modern and lightweight structures of secured glass and metal. There were surveillance cameras, sensors and lasers all around, leaving no way of access without an invitation or without setting off the alarms.

Amara was grinning. "Let's cause a commotion and see how they react!"

"By vaporizing us, probably! I say let's not!"

"Why not? I'm confident I can dodge their attacks. I dodged our master's bullets, after all!"

The pride in her voice was sickening to Allen. "How I hated those bullets from his Judgement…"

"Let's make a bang! Come on!"

Allen ran in front of her and stretched his arms. "No! Let's not make a bang! That's a terrible idea!"

"Oh, come on! What could possibly happen?"

"Anything? Really! Why start on the wrong foot?"

"Who said anything about feet?"

The confusion and concern on Allen's face melted into a singular expression, one resembling the fear of anticipating a disaster. He didn't understand what she meant, but in less than a second, he was going to find out.

Amara jumped over him with ease by using his shoulders as a trampoline and began approaching the gates in flips, avoiding the lasers and sensors with grace. In his eyes, the girl resembled a cat or maybe an acrobat in the circus, so perhaps she was telling the truth earlier about dodging their master's signature move. She was really fast and her hands and feet were barely touching the ground.

"Why are you still there?" she called from the other side of defense. "Hurry up!"

"I'm not sure I can…"

Allen tried getting through the field of lasers, but only two steps in, his backpack had triggered an alarm. Sirens were yelling all around and red lights began to flicker. A shower of bullets covered the ground, which turned out to be mined.

The boy ran for his life towards where Amara was standing, right in front of the gate. Just as he reached her, the gate opened and a dark figure attacked him with a sword. That kind of weapon was seen as rather primitive in the age of technology, but Allen couldn't deny its effectiveness.

"Hey, wait up! We're going to be Exorcists-!" but his opponent had no interest in talking.

Amara followed them. Allen had already activated his parasitic Innocence, but now it was time to see Amara using hers. It would have been nicer to see it under different circumstances, but at the moment, he felt grateful to have at least one person on his side. Her twin needles had expanded a spectacular length and were now connected by a single thread of pure energy. She was attempting to tangle up the sword of their attacker and stop him, while staying out of the way.

"Slow down, baby. Let's start this again, we're not only visitors here, we are your new colleagues!"

"The Order is not expecting any new recruits," was the first they both heard the dark figure speak. By the resonance of the voice, they realized it was a young man. His black uniform made it difficult to see much detail as he was constantly attacking both of them.

"Don't be silly! Our master is General Marian Cross," Amara continued as she tried to catch him off balance.

"That's right! There should have been a letter of recommendation for us arriving these days… Maybe a week ago."

Once caught, the blade had no problem cutting through Amara's wire and breaking her needles, stopping into Allen's arm and cutting all the way to the bone. The girl was shocked, and so was Allen, but the pain that spread through his body was much more urgent and it suddenly took control over him, swallowing the entire world. Throwing away her broken weapon, Amara ran by his side. Allen was hurt pretty badly, brought to his knees and breathless, unable to even scream. A nauseating dizziness took over him and dark little sparks clouded his vision. Approaching them and aiming his sword towards the two, the dark figure eventually stood still and Amara could see straight, black hair with blue highlights and dark eyes staring coldly.

"The Order received no letters of recommendation from General Cross."

Standing up, the girl attempted to take the sword from him with full rage. The young man was surprised by her agility, but her lack of strength was showing.

"Why, you arrogant little…! Give me that! Let me see you talk that big talk without your toy!"

Focus! He had to focus! The sword was nearly slipping through his fingers at times.

"Watch your tongue, weakling!"

"Watch your tone, prick!"

All this time, Allen was struggling to breathe and keep conscious, as pain was washing over him in waves and spreading with the speed of lightning. Just as he was about to give in and pass out, an electric voice buzzed through the speakers above the gate.

_'Attention! We had, in fact, received a recommendation letter signed by General Cross. If the subjects could give their full names to confirm their arrival, we would be more than happy to welcome them into our family!'_

The two stopped struggling as Amara found herself with the tip of the sword pointed at her throat.

"He asked for your name."

The girl grinned. "I could have given you a lot more than my name if only you wouldn't have been so hell-bent on killing us both…"

"I don't care. Answer the question!"

"Make me," she smirked.

Her opponent attempted to scared her into compliance, but Amara dodged and found her way into his arms, finding uncomfortable closure and causing the Exorcist to back away. He lowered his sword and tried to push her away, but Amara was persistent. When she couldn't stand near him anymore, she put her weight into her arms, standing upside-down on his forearm. She neared her face so much, that he could feel her breath on his face. Every hair on his body was electrified. He had never allowed anyone to approach him so much and plain out defy his personal space! Even when he breathed, he breathed in her scent, an odd and intoxicating mix of tobacco, alcohol, and something fruity, but not really sweet. He didn't smoke. He didn't drink, either. He also hated fresh fruit.

"Will you let me breathe?" he groaned.

"Nope!" The girl was amused. She could see the blood rushing to his face. "Who are you?"

"Ever heard of personal space?!"

"Nice to meet you, Personal Space!" she chuckled.

The Exorcist threw her off, not expecting her to jump over him and sit on his back like a little child, legs hanging off his shoulders.

"Here – now you can breathe! Just so you don't say I'm mean. You could be a model, anyone told you that?"

"…Get off me."

A sigh was heard through the speakers.

_'Can we please have one minute of seriousness? The two of you need to give your full names in order to confirm your arrival. Kanda, stop fooling around, will you?'_

"How am _I_ the one fooling around?!" the Exorcist snapped.

Before they could continue, Allen forced himself to his feet.

"My name is Allen Walker. She is Amarantha Maria Salvatore. I am English, aged 15 tomorrow, and she is Italian, aged 18, born May 21st. The letter was posted from New Delhi six days ago, from the post office number 63129C. Do we need to give any other details? It is signed by a single letter M and a slightly crooked cross, as the General wasn't exactly sober when he wrote it."

"You could have just said he was drunk, you know… Everyone knows he drinks sometimes," Amara pointed out.

"Not just sometimes…" Allen mumbled.

"…Please get the hell off me before I ship you back to Italy," Kanda threatened.

_'The amount of details is remarkable. Kanda, would you be so kind to show them to my office?'_

Amara eventually sighed and swung one leg over his head, slipping off his back with ease. "Oh, I don't think he will. He definitely could, but he's too embarrassed by being between a woman's legs to cooperate."

Kanda didn't pray often, but for half a second, he prayed that all this was nothing but a really odd nightmare from which he could wake. Who the hell was that little brat to talk about him in such a way?! What was he even supposed to answer to that? He had to say something!

"Nonsense! Before making affirmations, you should see if you're a woman or a ten-year-old boy!"

Amara brushed it off with a chuckle. "Well, if you're so much in doubt, why don't you come see?"

Kanda began walking towards the now open door of the building without another word. Behind him, Allen was dragging his feet. He was so flushed, his face began turning a tint of purple. This couldn't be possible! Amara couldn't be talking that way… and with a complete stranger! This was just as embarrassing as watching his master hit it off with some women at a party. A wild thought crossed his mind. If she seemed so familiar with the General, and they seemed to have a few traits in common, did it mean…? With wide eyes now forced shut, he shook his head to get rid of the mental image.

"What's the matter, Al?" Amara asked as she supported him from around his shoulders. "Having any wild thoughts?"

"N-no!" he stuttered. "No, no, that's not it! It's, uh, from the pain, it's making me so dizzy!"

If the girl believed him or if she just pretended, he couldn't tell, but for as long as they kept following Kanda, she remained by his side. Perhaps she wasn't as bad she their General. It seemed to him that Amara was still human, while their master had to be a demon of some kind!

Kanda stopped in front of a large double door.

"Go in!"

"Why aren't you coming with us?"

Kanda threw her a sharp look. He decided he disliked her deeply the second she broke into his personal space, but he knew that the Order was going to have someone lecture him on good behavior and all of that harmonious professional relationship nonsense, so he decided to control his urges of telling her to go to hell.

"I have more important things to do."

"Like what?" the girl insisted, her hand wrapping around the vintage handle of the door.

"Training. Just go!" he sighed.

Allen leaned closer to Amara as the Exorcist was already a few meters away.

"I hope not all Exorcists are like him."

"He'll come around, you'll see… If he hated our company so much, he would have made it more obvious. I don't think he has many friends."

To Allen, her affirmation didn't make much sense. What did she expect someone to do if they disliked their company? Kanda had literally tried to kill them both, and if stares could hurt, Amara would have been in serious trouble at the moment.

When she opened the door, they found a very large and very messy office. The room was lined in shelves of books and different kinds of memory storage units and devices, two couches crowded in a corner and an armchair in a hideous shade of mustard, coffee stains on the right arm of each and the signs of intense usage on the right-sided seat. There was a small table with several mugs piled together, like the ancient Tower of Pisa from before the Third War.

Two tables had been united into a single office space with a strikingly new levitating chair on air cushion. The working space was overflowing with papers, a printer was sliding a new pile into a corner and a computer was already in energy saving mode.

"Hello?" Allen called. "Is anyone here?"

The boy stood still by the closed door, looking around without the courage of exploring. On the other hand, his partner was already inspecting the shelves. She could find titles in different versions of English, from Anglo-Saxon to modern, Latin and the five languages that evolved from it, German, Hungarian and Slavic – a really impressive collection, but something stood out. An old pile of CDs had a coded label.

A voice could be heard from behind one of the shelves.

"Yes, yes, I'm here, sorry!"

A man in his thirties emerged, dusting the dust from his clothes and coughing loudly. He had been looking for something in between two lines of shelves, or perhaps there was a passage hidden somewhere around there. Amara made sure to remember to check behind the third shelf on the far right.

"Um, we're really, really sorry! We didn't mean to interrupt anything, it's just that Kanda, I think that's his name? He led us here and said we should enter. He didn't really give us any explanation or clue so I guess we're a bit lost," the boy apologized with a shy smile.

With her hands behind her back, Amara nodded. Was there any chance for her to take one of those CDs with her unnoticed? There had to be around twenty of them in individual plastic covers.

"That's right. I first thought maybe there was someone under the desk, maybe looking for something."

What would have been a very obvious lie was supported by the working area being just a step away from her. The man wondered if he should be careful around that girl, but decided that maybe she simply didn't know manners, as many Exorcists came from orphanages and nobody cared to educate those children.

"Don't worry! I think I have some chocolates around here, somewhere…" the man said with a smile. He began opening drawers until he found an opened box of French chocolates from the region of Belgium. "A-ha! I knew it! Belgian, too!"

"Oh, thank you, but I'm very careful with my diet," Amara refused. "My body weight impacts my fighting immensely."

"Well, if you don't want any…" The man offered the treats to Allen, who was too stunned to refuse.

"Thank you, sir! May I have two?"

"Sure! Have as many as you want!"

In his mind, the man was really strange, and his working space that had probably fused with his living space was the mirror of that. There was an odd contrast between very old, pre-War furniture and books and a few modern items like his chair and the computers which attested that he was indeed from this decade.

"So, Marian _did_ eventually train two Exorcists! I'm more than excited to know you and I wish you many, many years with us here, at the Order!"

As he was approaching Allen and leading him to the sofas, Amara slipped a CD under her shirt and secured it with the waistline of her pants. She also took a book in Slavic from the shelf above.

"I'm sorry, what's this? I think I've seen this title somewhere before, but I'm really at a loss."

The man, distracted by her question, came over to have a look.

"Ah, just some literature! Legends from the near East, and a bit of journalism. The author traveled the world and described it as good as he could. I must have forgotten to return this to the library," he chuckled and placed the book on his desk.

Amara made her way towards Allen. She wrinkled her nose at the fabric of the sofa – not only hideous and old, but it could have used a really good scrub too – yet she had to sit on it as the man had clearly freed the table for them. The boy was licking his fingers of melted chocolate without a care in the world.

The man was tall, skinny, with unkept hair reaching his shoulders and square glasses. He picked up two files from another drawer of his desk, pens, and the papers from the printing robot.

"My name is Komui Lee, please excuse me for introducing myself like this, but you're young, you don't care for such things too much, do you?" he laughed.

Amara was about to correct him, but held her tongue. Allen seemed more talkative all of a sudden.

"Not at all! Well, our master really insists on manners and stuff, but it's good to get a break from all of those rules."

"Great!" Komui smiled as he sat in the armchair next to them. He looked among the dirty mugs on the floor for the one from this morning, where he hoped to find some leftover coffee.

"Can I help you? What are you searching?" Allen offered.

Just then, Komui lifted up a mug with a pink bunny on it. "Found it! Alright, let's get to the serious things here. I'll need you both to fill out these forms for me. Don't worry, we'll go over them together and if you make any mistake, I can print another copy."

Each of them was given a set of papers containing personal questions, meant to create an in depth profile of the new recruits. Allen answered every question truthfully, while Amara tried to avoid a few.

After they turned in their papers, Komui looked over them.

"Very well… I will compare these with the ones General Cross is going to send. Please follow me now."

For the rest of the day, the two went through different tests of strength and resistance, they were scanned and their synchronization rate had been given a number, and they had to pass a series of physical exams. Komui was with them the whole time, filling out the remaining pages of their files. Eventually, a robot took their measurements and it was time to choose their uniforms.

"The rules for a uniform to be validated and created are simple. First, it must suit your needs in battle – in other words, choose something comfortable which won't be in your way. Second, it has to be decent and cover a fair amount of skin."

Allen stepped inside the changing room first. He selected a basic pair of pants, not too tight, not too loose either, and a plain sleeveless turtleneck. He didn't need many pockets, just the typical two that people have been wearing for centuries. The robot handled him his options in a few seconds and he tried his uniform for the first time.

"Hey, I kind of like it! Really, it's not bad!"

"Come on out and show us," Komui encouraged him.

Amara wasn't very impressed. "You didn't need a tailor robot for that, you know…"

"It's comfortable," he pointed out.

"And boring!"

Laughing, Amara rushed inside.

"Wait! Save my choices, please! Amara?"

"Oops! Too late," she laughed. She had saved his options and placed the order for four other identical uniforms to be created, but still decided to scare Allen.

The first option she chose was for it to be skin-tight. She added pockets and hidden spaces to her leggings, and even in her shirt, which had to be sleeveless. For the sake of experimenting, she chose a different top for each uniform – one cropped, another long, one with a large turtleneck, another showing some cleavage and accompanied by a collar.

"Very funny, Amara…" Allen eventually mumbled as the robot handled him the pile of clothes.

The girl walked out with her pile.

"Mind showing us your uniform?" Komui asked.

"I do, actually. I just got dressed, and it's really hard for me to put on my bra. I think I pulled a muscle or maybe I slept in a weird position, my arm kind of hurts."

Once again, the man noticed a pattern. She was willingly bringing up sensitive topics, inviting people to verify a bluff, well aware that the awkwardness of the situation would prevent them from doing so. If at first it seemed like a bad joke, now he began wondering if it was actually a well refined technique of manipulation.

"Maybe on the train?" Allen asked.

"Yeah, probably. Remember I leaned like that…?"

"Ah, yeah, I think so."

"Maybe we should call it a day, have something to eat, take a bath, lay in bed a bit early…"

The truth serum was effective regardless of who was asking the questions, so Allen became excited. He began complaining about the tiredness and numbness of traveling, and about his arm still hurting, even after it's been bandaged in the medical wing while Amara was being examined.

Komui sighed. "Well, if you want to go to bed, then here are your keys. The rooms are written on the tags. Use the tags in the cafeteria to order food. Good luck! Don't forget to make friends!"

The kids waved and began wondering through the building. Amara knew there was something suspicious about the chocolates from earlier, but she didn't know for how long Allen will be affected.

"Let's find your room first. You're hurt, right? You should rest."

"I'm more hungry than tired, actually. Let's find the cafeteria!"

Amara had to get rid of the CD before anyone would notice it. She was tired of hiding it from scanners and security.

"Alright. I really want a shower before I can eat, so I guess I'll meet you there. I won't be long!"

"Um, alright…"

Although not very certain about the brief tour given by Komui, Allen was determined to find the cafeteria. In the mean time, Amara was looking for the dorms. She was going to search her room for any tracking devices, settle in, and take a brief shower.

_We're finally here. _

_Allen and I had reached the Black Order. I have my doubts about the food here. Komui Lee tricked Allen into eating some chocolates and I suspect there was a mind-altering powder or serum infused with the sweets. He became strangely truthful, which can't be good. _

_Today I met:_

_Komui Lee: responsible for new-comers, pre-War nostalgic, loyal to the Order, liar – not to be trusted! Tried to pass report in Slavic on the First World War as fiction_

_Kanda: cold and abrasive, rude, probably lonely, I think I could get to him, doesn't seem extremely attached to the Order emotionally (or to anyone else)_

_Check out!_

\- _Space behind third shelf to the far right in Komui's office  
_\- _2EX TIX1 and possibly others (pile ~20?)  
_\- _Library – mentioned by Komui_

_I kind of miss performing, but I guess that's part of the game. It's the first night in two years that I won't be juggling and I can't get the thought of that guy from Campania out of my head. I'm scared only of the possibility of the Order finding out about this somehow and using it against me. _

_And I want a cigarette. _

_REMEMBER: find connections!_

_Oct. 1,Black Order Headquarters, London, Britain_

Amara began putting away her clothes into the wardrobe. The room was very small, almost claustrophobic, and there was a shared bathroom with someone else who had locked the door to their room. Not feeling exceptionally hungry, but very curious about her surroundings, Amara took a rushed shower, used the vaporizer to dry herself in mere seconds, then got dressed as a civilian and decided it was time to explore.


	3. Lady Luck

She got out through the window, since the dorms were at the second floor so she managed to slide down the wall. Her bees were stuffed in one pocket, the oil and some spare cash in her backpack, as well as the keys and the CD. Her mission was to find someone who could read that, and many more to follow.

The girl went into town, trying to map the city in her mind. She did have excellent memory – perhaps that was one of the traits that her master liked, though he never praised her. Thinking about it, their relationship was complicated... Or perhaps, the General was simply a complicated man, not meant to fit into any conventional categories. Amara walked through the center of London, pulsing with music of all kinds and buzzing crowds of people from all over the world. She could catch a glimpse of the night sky, as the buildings here were preserved for the sake of history and didn't reach the heavens.

Amara walked from bar to bar, trying to find the 'right kind of people', but the only thing she seemed to find was trouble. A gang began following her, cat calling and whistling. She tried to ignore them at first, but the men became even more persistent. Once she noticed that she was their target, Amara began to panic. Her Innocence was still being repaired at the Order's headquarters after Kanda broke it, and she didn't have a gun – or anything else that could help her defend herself.

Her master would have laughed. Yes, this was her own damn fault for going out at night unattended and unarmed, but she still didn't want to fall into the hands of several drunk men! Alright – time to think, and fast! Where should she go? Another bar? But she didn't know the back doors. The boulevards? Again, she had a risk of getting lost or worse – running into a dead end.

Amara kept taking turns, before she found a door unlocked and went inside. It didn't matter much at that time where, as long as she wasn't in plain sight anymore… or did it? She quickly noticed that there was someone else in there with her. No, it wasn't someone, it was something. A very familiar click confirmed her suspicion, but just as she lowered herself and prepared to be killed by the Akuma, she heard it firing away right past her. The screams and groans of the drunkards echoed through the night, followed by a loud slam! The Akuma left the building and kept firing after a moving target, only to be destroyed a few minutes later.

After the explosion, Amara finally walked out again. A tall red-haired young man was pointing a giant hammer at her. One of his eyes had a bionic prosthetics and he was wearing a green scarf loose around his neck.

"Are you another one of them?" he asked.

The sign of the Black Order was shining brightly on his silver badge. Amara grinned.

"I'm one of you, actually."

"I don't see you wearing any uniform," he pointed out.

Amara shrugged. "I wanted something casual. Kanda broke my Innocence so until they fix it, I don't want to draw much attention."

"So you're unarmed?" He approached her with his weapon deactivated and a small smile. "You shouldn't walk around like that. You'll run into trouble, it's just how it is for Exorcists, with or without uniforms."

"I guess I'll have to get used to it, but until then, it seems I'm getting quite lucky."

"I'm Lavi. Should I say I'm lucky to meet you?" he chuckled.

Amara smiled, though her mind was elsewhere. "Maybe. Do you want to show me around?"

There went her night of fire juggling, though perhaps it wasn't that bad. If he could take her around London, then she would at least get a general idea about the streets. Yet, her hope shattered once Lavi lowered his head and shook it slowly.

"I'm afraid I can barely carry myself anymore… How about some other time? I'm just getting back from a mission and I'm so tired, I could sleep on my feet."

The girl walked beside him.

"Tomorrow night? Let's go back then."

"We'll see. Maybe tomorrow, or the night after…"

She turned to look over her shoulder once, but there was nothing she could make out in the darkness of the street. Even so, she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. After all, it was too much of a coincidence that an Akuma was right there, at the perfect moment, and it happened to simply miss her as a target.

Her admirer from Sorrento had to be a Noah. They were the only ones capable of controlling Akuma, and crossing through solids such as concrete walls was so unnatural, it just had to be a manifestation of Dark Matter. That left her questions unanswered…

"…Do you?"

Suddenly awakened from her trail of thoughts, the girl was beyond confused.

"Sorry? I wasn't paying attention."

"I asked for your name, and when you didn't answer, I told you that you don't need to talk to me if you don't feel like it. Then, I said that you don't really seem like the type to enjoy loud parties and night clubs, and asked if I was right."

Amara nodded slowly.

"Okay, so first of all, I really don't mind talking to you, really! And second, I'm kind of in between. If I'm with someone, I can be anywhere, I don't mind. If I'm alone, I usually like quieter places."

"If you say so," Lavi sighed with a small smile. "I guess we've both had one hell of a day, then."

Amara nodded. "Oh, and what a day! I nearly missed the right train from Campania, then I found out Allen is a sweet, little, innocent baby with no clue about alcohol – though that's not such a bad thing, in the end, and then we reached the Order. I passed through the defense with ease, but Allen set off the alarms, and Kanda plain out attacked us. Though, after all was done, he got so embarrassed to be near me! It really made me laugh. He's a loner, right?"

Her companion began laughing. "Oh, yes, that sounds like him! We try to approach him, but he's like a cat in the bath, you know what I mean?"

"Oh, yes! That's definitely how he reacted!"

"Ah, well, I hope he didn't scare you too much," he said once he was done laughing at their colleague.

The girl shrugged. "And what will you do if I said he had?"

He sighed. "Not much… Just trying to show you we're not all the same."

"How would you do that?"

"I'm really sorry if you're trying to hint to anything, but I'm afraid we, Exorcists can't have any… emotional attachments, or relationships. It's prohibited."

Suddenly becoming serious, she waved her hand as if to push the idea out of their sight.

"Relationships and attachments are out of my way. I don't do love, not in that romantic stomach-turning nauseating sense. To me, it's all good as long as I can joke around with someone, have good conversation, and maybe have a connection as friends, you know? Helping each other out of trouble and the like… Anything else belongs in a book or a show, not in real life."

He placed his hands behind his head and looked towards the sky.

"It's kind of sad that you think this way… Part of me wished I could have a relationship for once."

"You can't be serious, right? It's nothing but headaches and unnecessary stress! Nobody stays faithful until the end, unless they're the ones bringing the end. I've seen my share, I know how it goes."

"I guess… But I heard love can be beautiful to have. That's how ordinary people describe it - difficult, yet rewarding."

Amara shrugged. "Well, I've seen it and it's not all that pretty, and you can't change my mind."

"I suppose…" the redhead eventually agreed.

"So… how was your day?" Amara asked.

"Hmm… Less than pretty," he said with a bitter smile. "I lost my team mate."

Her eyes widened. "You mean…?"

"We've been through three consecutive missions. We were exhausted, hungry, broke, and returning home. A few minutes after we confirmed to the Order we'll be heading to London, we were attacked."

"By Akuma?"

"No… I mean, yes, they were there, but the Akuma were the least of our problems."

That surprised her. "Then what happened?"

"We were attacked by Noah directly. It's rare, but it happens, and when it does, we almost always lose Exorcists in those fights. I knew it happened, I knew the statistics, but we've been through another fight against a Noah and everything went more or less according to plan… But not today."

"You know, General Cross did say something about Dark Matter and some abilities of Noah, but he didn't tell me about one in particular. Do they stand out in a crowd?"

Lavi frowned slightly. "Yes, sometimes… They can blend in really well, if they want, but they don't fight that way. I'm not sure if they can't fight or they just don't want that, but they usually turn into their real forms when fighting. Their skin is darker than usual and they have stigmata. Those seem to be pretty obvious, on their forehead or hands, on the neck – visible places."

Amara nodded slowly. "So they are people, like us?"

"Not really…"

"Well, superhuman and what not, but I mean – they are individuals with their own personality and quirks and all that, right?"

The young man placed his hands in his pockets. "I suppose they're quite different and individual, but I didn't talk to the Noahs in a friendly way to know their personalities."

"Do you know what I heard tonight, going from one place to another?"

Lavi raised his eyebrows in a gesture meant to tell her that she had all of his attention.

"I caught word of a ball organized by the Royal family. The Noahs are part of the higher class, right? They're nobles, with titles and status, so by definition, they could take part… right?"

The Exorcist nodded, though he wasn't sure about what she wanted to reach with this argument.

"Technically, yes, they're supposed to have titles, but I don't know which precisely."

"I don't think it matters. If they wanted, they could attend, therefore, their precise position on the social ladder isn't important. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't their presence pose a threat to all of those other mortal snobs and old-money stuck-up bastards?"

"…Perhaps, in theory, but I've never heard of any incidents. If you are right and they do have connections with the noble families, that means the Noahs would have no reason to attack someone or make a scene at such an event. All of these connections would be instantly lost."

"I'm not saying that they will, just that in theory, their presence could be a threat."

Lavi crossed his arms over his chest. Her reasoning was correct, though he was positive there was no precedent supporting her theory. Yet, her excitement about this argument and the odd curiosity for the family of Noah began to add up in his tired mind.

"You are not, by any chance, trying to get to a royal ball in hopes to engage with a Noah, are you?"

Amara was tip-toeing and spinning on her feet, dangling from one side to the other. Her motions were making him dizzy, but on the other side, Lavi began to see what he should have noticed from the start.

"…Maybe? What if I would? Are you going to tell Komui?"

"Komui is not the problem. We need permission from the Vatican directly in order to attend closed doors events. Not anyone can go to a royal ball, I hope you understand."

The girl's eyes were sparkling with more than just a beautiful makeup effect.

"Alright! Well, if that fails, know that I have an uncle in Italy who is a duke. I think I could make my way into this ball."

Her colleague began to laugh to himself. "You, Italians are just… Incredible! You always know someone, somewhere, in a higher position, or something like that! You know everybody!"

"Of course we do! We're communicative people, unlike… others," she laughed.

"I'm not telling you my nationality so you can laugh at it."

"I'm not asking for your nationality to laugh at it."

"But you will ask for it."

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I can find it on my own, somehow. Just give me one week, I'll know everyone in the Order."

"Everyone? Even from the Asian and North American branches?"

"Hmm, maybe three weeks, but don't test me!"

The two approached the building and switched to some unimportant small talk, then went to their rooms in search for sleep. Although still sad because of the death of his team mate, Lavi couldn't deny that Amara was nice company. He enjoyed her cheerfulness and her energy, although he did feel a little bit worn out by their brief interaction. Lavi closed his eyes with the thought of asking Komui to be paired with her, but he failed to realize just how fascinated she was by the possibility of interacting with the ones who brutally slaughtered his old team mate.

In another room, some distance from London, in a mansion on a hill, surrounded by Akuma and endless gardens and fields, two feet were skipping down the stairs and running to the door with the excitement and joy that only a child could feel.

"What took you so long?!"

The man barely had time to shut the front door behind him before his niece jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around him. For a moment, he experienced the feeling of being a tree, supporting a cat.

"I took the long way back," he mumbled.

"You never do that when we're together! Come on, tell me! Did you do something exciting?"

He shrugged with a simple 'Hmm' which did nothing to satisfy the girl's curiosity. Tyki set her down and kicked off his shoes, hanged his hat and put away his coat.

"Did you meet with someone?" the girl continued to question him, excitement growing in her eyes. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Nope," he answered briefly, then stretched his arms and straightened his back. "None of that."

"Then what took you so long?"

Sighing, Tyki walked into the living room and laid on the couch, picking up the book he had left behind when the Earl had sent him in London to observe the two new Exorcists of the Order.

"I told you, I took a scenic route."

Road was balancing on her feet back and forth in the doorway.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!~"

"If you say so…"

Tyki focused his attention on the book. He found the page with a folded corner, straightened it, and continued reading from where he had left off. In the mean time, Lulu, the cat of the family, had found its way into the living room and jumped on the sofa, curling up by his feet. It looked like the beginning of a splendid afternoon, until the weight of a thirteen-year-old teenager landed on his stomach.

"What...?!"

"Tell me!" she demanded, big eyes staring into his over the edge of his book.

"I already told you - twice!"

"Na-ah!"

"Yes, I did!"

"Did not!"

"I did!"

"No! Tell me the truth! Did you play cards and lose again?"

Tyki rolled his eyes. "I don't lose in cards, I let others win once or twice, so that they bet more and I win it all in the end."

"Which means you lose, and then you cheat."

"I do not cheat, I play my cards right."

"Of course you do, everybody does."

"Not me! Cheating is bellow me."

Road picked up the cat and began using its front paws as drumsticks against his book.

"Tell me what you did! You never take more than an hour when the Earl sends you into town, and we all know it!"

Exhausted of their back and forth debate with absolutely no chance of ending anytime soon, and partly so that she would let the cat go, Tyki set the book down after folding the corner right back.

"There will be a charitable ball at Buckingham Palace on the 31st of October, and we're invited, as usual. Also, there are some rumors about the Black Order trying to install some kind of surveillance network or some tech stuff that should alert them about Akuma, but I doubt they'll do anything this year."

Road pouted. "Boooring! You probably found this in two minutes!"

"Hours, rather."

"Fine, twenty minutes, by the clock."

Tyki stood up and went into the kitchen. He wasn't especially hungry, but he felt like looking around, just to see if anything looked appealing enough to be worth the effort of chewing. Road left the cat swinging its tail in annoyance on the couch, and went after her uncle. She was determined to find out the truth.

"Come on, tell me! I really wouldn't mind you finding a girl and maybe, you know, Wisely and I could have a little cousin and-!"

"No chance!" Tyki laughed. "Better erase that thought from your mind completely. I'm not Sheril."

"I promise I won't tell anyone!" she begged.

"Of course you won't, because there won't be anything to tell."

When the sensor detected Tyki's presence, it turned the door of the fridge transparent so he could see the contents. He opened it and took a bar of exclusive dark chocolate with whole seedless cherries. The package was carefully opened, and re-glued back together.

"Please! You can tell me," the girl continued. "Is she pretty? Of course she is! Did you take her on a date? Did you walk her home after that?"

Ignoring all of her questions, Tyki turned to her with the evidence in his hand.

"Forget about that. What is this?"

The girl's grin turned brighter than ever. "Chocolate, I think."

"Obviously, but why is it opened and resealed?"

"Maybe it came that way and you didn't notice?"

"Which of the twins did it?"

Road took a step back. "I don't know…"

"Sure you do," her uncle insisted.

"Pinkie swear! I can't tell!"

"That must be Devit," he concluded. "Jasdero isn't bright enough for this, I should have known."

Once he opened the package, his suspicion had been confirmed. The chocolate was completely gone, while the package had been filled with sand so it would feel as if it was still full.

Road ran out of the kitchen giggling. She held onto the corner of the wall to take a sharp turn and then stomp her way upstairs.

"IF YOU TELL, I'LL TELL!" she yelled right before slamming the door to her room.

Left alone and without his favorite treat, Tyki contemplated if it was worth making another trip into London in order to buy another bar of dark chocolate. He loved that one specific brand, yet it was far from cheap and the only store selling it had already closed. His sweet tooth aching and unsatisfied, Tyki found himself dragging his feet back into the living room with the intention of reading his book.

However, the questioning wasn't over yet. The Millennium Earl was waiting for him in an armchair, watching the flames in the fireplace stretching and trembling, casting shadows and sparks in their immediate vicinity.

"Say, Tyki-Pon, what happened today?"

Annoyed, Tyki laid on the couch once more.

"Nothing much."

"I think an Akuma might have missed a target, if I'm correct, which I think I am."

He shrugged. "If that's what bothers you, I'll make sure it won't happen again."

The Earl tilted his head. "You know I am a patient man, and I'm indulgent with you all, but especially with you, Tyki-Pon. How about you take Road with you the next time you go into town?"

"Doesn't she have school all day?"

"Just four hours, Tyki. It's not much. You can pick her up from school tomorrow and see what the two of you can find out about that network the Order is planning to install."

Tyki opened his book and pretended to be drawn by the story.

"…How about she stops helping the twins steal things from me, like that fountain pen with a garnet ring, my chocolate, or the countless packs of cigarettes that keep magically disappearing from the pocket of my coat?"

"Hmm, I will have a talk with them, if that will make you feel better."

"Finding my things where I leave them will make me feel much better."

"There is one thing that worries me, and I can't seem to find a reasonable answer. Perhaps you should find one?"

Tyki was partly scared by this speech. Exactly how much did the Earl know? Did he see through the eyes of Akuma, or did he hear Road yelling about him having a love interest?

"You failed to find and crush the Innocence fragment in Campania, which was your mission for how long? Several months, if I remember correctly…"

Tyki didn't know if he should answer this question, or not. He decided to remain silent.

"Today, the Akuma you took with you just happened to miss one of its targets… Could these two happenings have anything in common?"

Now it was obvious he had to say something.

"…If you're talking about that target, she's one of the two new Exorcists. She didn't have the Innocence with her, so why bother? I figured I'd rather wait for her to get her Innocence, then kill her and crush the Innocence, at once."

"Sounds reasonable enough… What about Campania? I heard you've had quite some fun while you were there. It looked more like a vacation."

"It was too hard to locate the Innocence."

"That didn't stop you from attacking an entire city before, did it?"

"True, but Campania is a beautiful city. I didn't want to ruin it for one shard."

The Earl turned his attention back towards the fireplace.

"It's good to see you're playing your cards right, at least for now… I wonder for how long, through."

Tyki eventually submerged himself in the book, although his mind was preoccupied by the Earl's words. Was that a warning, or a threat? For once, having both Light and Dark was making life more complicated than interesting, and it made him question his current reality. Would it be easier to kill that girl if he allowed his Dark side to rule over his Light? That would be the last he'd probably see of his Light side, which made him reluctant to give such power to his Dark side, but was this struggle worth the effort? In the end, there's no escape from the Dark… but even his Dark felt something strange inside.


	4. Clue: the Chopping Board

On her sixth day at the headquarters, Amara heard a call through the speakers. She was at the cafeteria, trying to make up her mind between two salads, when Komui's voice echoed through the building:

_'Good morning, Exorcists, this is Komui speaking. I ask Allen Walker, Amara Salvatore, Kanda and Lavi to come to my office as soon as possible. I am talking to you, Kanda. Please, pause your training and present yourself in my office, along with the others. Thank you! You have five minutes!'_

The second part made her laugh. Amara decided she will take her breakfast later and found her way through the corridors. She was curious about it, especially since three others had been called as well. Komui couldn't have asked for all these Exorcists just to tell her that she had stolen a CD, which probably meant he didn't notice.

Amara caught up with Lavi and jumped on his back. "Hi!"

The young man was forced to take a large step forward in order to keep his balance, but he didn't mind it much.

"'Morning! I see someone woke up well."

"Why? Did anything happen?" she asked, still riding on his back. Because Lavi had bent his elbows so that her knees were supported, she guessed he agreed on carrying her for a little while, so she leaned with her chin on his shoulder.

"I told you about my mission… It's… Haunting me," he sighed.

"Hmm…" The girl wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Lavi noticed she changed the subject and he was thankful. He didn't feel capable of speaking about his team mate's death at the moment.

"I think we're going on another mission."

"That'd be our first, officially."

He nodded. "Yes… By the protocols, you and Allen should spend two to three weeks at the Order so you can grow accustomed to our rules, procedures, technology and what not, but we're short on Exorcists, so…"

As they reached Komui's door, Allen was dragging his feet towards them from the direction of the dorms. His collar was twisted and he had taken his shirt inside-out, but he managed to keep his eyes partly open, which was in itself an achievement.

"Hi…" he mumbled.

"Hello, sleepy head!" Amara laughed. "Did you look into a mirror today?"

Allen shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

"Don't worry, it happens," Lavi said with a smile. "Let's go inside, Kanda should show up eventually."

They opened the door and saw another girl waiting by the desk of Komui. She had long, straight hair tied up in two twin tails, and her uniform consisted of an Asian-style top and a short skirt that reminded Amara about a school uniform. She was covering her legs with tall black socks and over-the-knee boots.

Lavi carried Amara inside, while Allen remained in the doorway. He couldn't take his eyes off her and it made him feel so embarrassed, that he forgot he should enter the room and close the door behind him.

"Walk!" Kanda's voice echoed coldly from behind him.

Jumping at the sudden noise, Allen took a few shy steps inside. He lowered his eyes to the ground, then looked up at Komui. He was at his desk, working on something on the computer.

"Is everybody here?" he asked, taking a look around the room. "Good morning, once more! I have wonderful news! This is Lenalee Lee, one of our best and most experienced Exorcists who has just returned from an exchange with the Asian branch of our Order, and she will be part of your team! Isn't that wonderful?"

The girl smiled and bowed. "Hello everyone!"

Allen nodded, then bowed, only to wave half a second later. "Um, hello. I mean, good morning."

Amara noticed, but was too busy trying to understand the exchange of looks between the new girl and Kanda. They clearly knew each other.

"Call me Amara," she smiled. "It's nice having another girl on the team."

Lavi chuckled. "I'm Lavi, he's Allen, and mister Grumpy Pants is Kanda, but I call him Yu."

Not happy about the introduction, Kanda took hold of his sword. "Say that to my face, I dare you!"

"See what I mean?" Amara laughed.

"Actually, I was paired with Kanda before leaving for the exchange program, so we already know each other well," Lena mentioned. "I'm glad to meet you all, and so happy to hear General Cross finally decided to train some apprentices!"

Komui cleared his throat. "I have a mission for you all, and it requires that you work together. As you all know, Amara and Allen are new, so I rely on you three to look after them help them acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to conduct a mission on their own."

"Babysitting," Kanda concluded.

"I wouldn't call it that way…" Komui defended himself. "There has been some strange activity reported in Istanbul. We've lost all connections with our personnel there, and four other Exorcists. The last we know is that they reached Istanbul and were going to stay at our resort, asking for a refund, and saying they will be on their way the following morning. This happened two days ago. This resort is the usual and most popular stop for Exorcists, Finders and Supporters of the Black Order traveling between Europe and Asia, in either direction."

The first thing that crossed Amara's mind was that Istanbul was famous for its underground life. It was larger than Campania, extremely well developed, and the differences between the higher and the lower class were even greater. She wanted to find someone with sufficiently old technology that could read a CD, and Istanbul was sure to have such people, but the risk of searching for them on her own was immense. With Lenalee being introduced by Komui, she suspected that the girl was loyal to the Order and to Komui. Allen was too stunned to be of any help. She couldn't count on him. He was also naïve and easily manipulated. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Kanda was still hard to approach and talking him into covering her little illegal adventure was far from easy. Somewhere in between was Lavi… Amara liked his personality, but couldn't say if she should trust him completely yet.

Lost in thought, Amara allowed Lavi to carry her out into the corridors of the building as the others kept talking. She wasn't paying attention. Her mind was preoccupied by other things, like the polarization of their group. It was very likely that she would have to share a room with Lenalee, if it came to that, because they were both girls and the possibility of sleeping together or seeing each other changing their clothes won't pose any moral or ethical questions for their narrow-minded society who still failed to acknowledge same sex relationships were just as frequent and natural as hetero relationships and if anything were to happen, it would find a way.

Eventually, she felt Lavi letting her slide off his back and realized they were in front of her room.

"Did you hear me?" he chuckled. "Amara?"

The girl laughed. "No, I'm so sorry! I was so caught up in my own thoughts – you must think I'm such an airhead! It's the second time it happens!"

"Don't worry. I told you that you should pack your things and I'll meet you here in ten minutes, alright?"

The girl nodded and entered her room. She took out her backpack and filled it up: a spare uniform, a pajama, fire-bees, oil, gunpowder, money, the journal, bandages and disinfectant, cigarettes, and a lighter. The CD she had stolen from Komui was carefully hidden in her journal, in an envelope. She hid the plastic cover in between the mattress and its cover, then did her bed as usual and placed several signs. She used single threads of her own hair to mark three spaces in her room: the bed, the desk, and the door that led into the corridor.

Once done, she left through the bathroom, carefully locking the door. If anyone were to even open her room, the hairs would fall or move elsewhere, letting her know. Amara burst through the door, expecting to find Kanda, but the only thing she found was a very neat and clean room. She tried to leave, but the door was locked, letting her with no other option than to knock.

Kanda was outside, waiting for the others.

"Why are you always leaving through my room?" he groaned as he unlocked the door to let her out.

Amara saw that nobody else was there at the moment and hang herself from his neck, reaching for his ear. "I'll tell you later, I have a good reason this time," she whispered.

The door across from Kanda's opened and Lavi walked out full of energy and joy, only to see Amara all over Kanda. His smile faded in a moment and he looked away.

"I didn't mean to… interrupt anything."

Kanda glared. How could he imagine that there was anything going on between him and this annoying and immature ball of energy?!

"You didn't interrupt anything," Amara said innocently. "I just told him a secret."

Allen walked out of his room with his shirt right, and so did Lenalee. The second they all saw each other, Kanda began walking towards the exit.

"Let's go!" he ordered.

Allen ran to catch up with Amara and Lavi. "Is he always this way?"

Both Exorcists nodded in unison, as Lenalee smiled in amusement.

"He's not that bad," the new girl said. "That's his way of saying he's glad to be on our team."

"Not," Kanda corrected her, as soon as he heard Lena.

The group began making small talk, or discussing memories from other missions and time spent together. They took a direct federal train to Istanbul, and in five hours, they were already at their destination. Allen was there for the first time, and the amount of people in the megalopolis amazed him. A beehive would have been less crowded than Istanbul on a weekend afternoon. He couldn't stop looking around, and every street merchant could see that he was an easy target alone.

Gladly for him, Amara noticed he was easily distracted and held his hand.

"Come on, shorty! We don't need to buy anything, let's go!"

"Yeah, but… Oh, wow! Look at these pies and pastries! Oh, Lord, my stomach is eating itself!"

"We can eat at the hotel, Allen, come on! You don't know how they're made and the street isn't exactly clean. I wouldn't eat these for free, leave alone pay for them!"

"Please? Just one! I promise, I'll eat as we go. It's the only thing I'll buy today!"

Eventually, Amara gave in. "Fine… But I'm not paying!"

Allen pulled her towards the street vendor. They waited in line until it was their turn, and Allen bought himself a pastry boat with lamb pie filling. As soon as the treat was in his hands, he took a bite, even if he had to breathe through his open mouth to cool it down.

"So hot! I burned my tongue!"

"Don't talk with food in your mouth! Ugh, you're acting as if our master didn't teach you anything!"

"Do you want to try?" Allen pushed the pastry-pie hybrid into her face.

Amara blocked his hand with her wrist. "No, thanks."

"Sure? It's so good!" he insisted.

"Pretty sure. I don't eat lamb, or any other red meat."

"Alright, more for me!"

Amara sighed. She couldn't help but smile. The boy reminded her of a cousin she had a few years ago, back when she wasn't an Accomodator of Innocence, when life was simple and time had patience.

"You're cute…" she mumbled.

"Huh?" Allen was surprised. Nobody had ever called him that before.

"You're cute," she repeated. "That's all."

"Um… thanks? Hey, where is everyone?"

On a closer look, Amara noticed that they had became separated. Allen was right, Lenalee, Kanda and Lavi were nowhere in sight.

"We lost them… But as long as we know where they're going, we can just meet them there. It's fine, I think I know the way," she reassured him. "Let me just light one first…"

Allen was surprised to see her smoking. "I don't think Exorcists are allowed to have vices…"

The girl shrugged in indifference as she placed the pack and the lighter into a pocket for easier access and swung her backpack over her shoulder. "Do you think I care?"

"No, but…"

"General Cross smokes and nobody has the courage to tell him that. We're human, Allen, not Angels or Saints. Humans have vices, it's just the way it is."

Unsure about her explanation, but not capable to tell her anything else, Allen followed Amara through the streets of Istanbul. They seemed to be going deeper into the core of the megalopolis, as the buildings were old and repaired in their historical image, and even marked as federal monuments.

Finding the hotel of the Order, they saw Lenalee supporting Lavi, who was hunched by the entrance and holding his head.

"What's going on?" Allen whispered. Instinctively, he ran towards Lavi. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Amara began to walk a little faster, but she didn't run. Instead, she was scanning their surroundings. A bad feeling was turning her stomach.

"I don't know," Lenalee answered. "He took two steps inside, then ran back out. Kanda is in there, but I stayed with Lavi."

The Exorcist was shaking and crying, frantic sobs choking him, as he kept shaking his head and pulling his hair. Allen bent down to take a look at his expression, and he froze on the spot.

"I'm going in," Amara said. "You stay behind with Lavi."

Once Allen and Lenalee nodded, she opened the door of the hotel expecting to see blood and guts everywhere. However, much to her surprise, there was barely any blood. A few drops were scattered randomly on the walls, on the ceiling, on the floor and on the doors. A bloody hand print was by the entrance, on the white paint of the wall, and there were empty clothes all over the place.

Amara walked around the lounge. There were coffee mugs on tables with lipstick on, halfway consumed or empty. A few cigarettes had burned out in an ashtray. Full outfits were left on the chairs and sofas, in the shape of people sitting down, except they were empty of any bodies. On a closer inspection, she noticed two very strange details. First, the top button of the uniform of an Exorcist was missing. Second, there were tiny holes in the clothes of the people that looked like they had been made by some kind of moth or insect. The same distinctive chewing was present on curtains and wallpaper. Were all of these people devoured by insects? That was hardly possible.

Moving on, she decided to inspect the restaurant. The entire building was surrounded by an eerie silence, so much that she could hear her own blood pulsing through her veins. In the stillness of it all, Amara heard the rapid flapping of a wing. A few seconds later, she heard it again. It came from the kitchen.

The first thing she noticed was the atmosphere. It was heavy with smoke, gas, and steam. Gas-fueled cooking machines were still popular in restaurants because they were cheap, and it appeared that one had been left on. Without touching the light switch, Amara lifted the collar of her uniform over her nose as a filter and went in search of the life form making the odd noise.

Under a table, by the uniform of a Chef and with a cooking knife stuck in its wing, the largest butterfly she had ever seen was struggling to escape. It looked exhausted and its wing was twisted in a strange way, but what worried her the most were the deep cuts or scratches surrounding the insect on the chopping board. Carefully, she held the butterfly still and removed the knife.

The moment it saw the knife gone, the butterfly attempted to free itself. The girl felt a sharp pain in her palm and noticed blood running down her finger.

"Ow! You bit me?! You ungrateful little vermin!"

The first thought that crossed her mind was to crush it under her heel, but then she remembered the holes in the clothes of the victims.

"You're not going anywhere, baby. Let's see… That's the way!"

Amara held the insect by its wings, right behind the back of its head. No matter how the butterfly struggled, it was once more incapable of escaping. The girl was surprised by the strength it had, which could compare to that of a sparrow. Considering butterflies were invertebrates, it was absolutely phenomenal. She also noticed a very peculiar pattern on its wings, resembling the spades of a playing deck.

The door opened suddenly and Amara hid behind a cupboard. She also held the butterfly tightly. Keeping her distance while not giving away her position was becoming increasingly difficult. The insect was reacting to whoever was approaching them, but Amara couldn't decide if it was showing intense terror or absolute rage.

"Show yourself!" a strong voice shouted through the smoke and steam.

Relieved, Amara stood up. "Kanda, I'm so glad it's you! Take a look at this – I found it next to the chef, I guess, or rather his uniform."

The young man stared at her catch in disbelief. "…That explains it," he mumbled.

"Explains what? Hey, don't leave me in the dark!"

As Kanda turned towards the exit, Amara caught up with him. "What's up with Lavi and what kind of Akuma does this? Or… was it Noah?"

Her partner kept walking until he reached the three who stayed behind. Lavi seemed a little calmer, though he was still pale as a ghost with bloodshot eyes and a blank stare.

"Kanda… Unless you want me to keep it as a pet, explain!"

Allen and Lenalee turned towards Amara and saw her shaking what looked like the shadow of a butterfly which had somehow come alive. Allen's heart skipped half a beat as he felt like he should have recognized the thing, but at the same time, he knew he had never seen it before.

"So then… he's here!" Lenalee covered her mouth. "We have to leave, fast!"

"Who is here?" Amara was losing her patience fast.

"The Noah who fought Bookman," Lenalee eventually answered, "Lavi's previous pair. He…"

At that moment, Lavi caught her arm. "Don't… Don't say it. Not yet…" he mumbled in a low voice.

Amara softened her expression and looked away. "I know. He told me. So, then… is this some kind of pet, or a weapon?"

Lenalee helped Lavi to his feet and they began moving away.

"I think both," she answered. "Oh, I feel so bad for Lavi…"

"He can place these things inside human bodies, and they eat the person alive. He finds it amusing, and if it lasts too long, he starts removing organs or body parts."

While Kanda didn't appear bothered by his explanation, Lavi was glaring at him with the eyes that yelled a hundred accusations of inhuman cruelty. He sighed deeply and held Lenalee closer to him, just for comfort.

"Kanda… You should be mourning. He nearly sacrificed himself for you last year!"

"That doesn't mean anything."

Allen and the two girls separated them. Lenalee stayed with Lavi on his left side, while Amara pushed Kanda to the right, Allen staying in the middle. He kept looking at the butterfly in her hand, trying to understand the preferred way of murder of this particular Noah. The butterfly was a golem, but it didn't appear made by human hands.

"Let's talk about this little thing here," Amara drew their attention onto the butterfly. "I want to buy a bird cage and bring it back with me, for research."

Kanda looked even more annoyed than before. "Are you out of your mind? I just told you these kind of things breed inside human bodies, such as yours, or his, or hers! Do you really think you could keep it in a cage?" he nodded towards Allen and Lenalee.

"You know, I think he might be right," Allen intervened in a softer voice.

Even so, the Italian was unshaken. "Look, if an entire resort was killed and devoured by these things, shouldn't we study them?"

"…No," Lavi said. "It's not worth it. The risk is too high."

"But think about it! What if we could create something similar, which could battle with these? I imagine there must have been thousands and thousands of them."

Tired of going back and forth, Kanda lifted his sword and cut the butterfly in half, without hurting Amara.

"Kanda! What's wrong with you?! It was mine!" Amara whined.

"It was a spy!" he yelled. "Or an attempt to fill the Order with them! Can't you see you're being stupid?"

Allen took a step towards Lenalee and Lavi, and then another. He noticed that Amara took pride in her vast knowledge, and he anticipated a violent reaction. Accidentally finding himself in her way was not something he wanted to try. As expected, the two began to fight and before they knew it, Amara had activated Leyla and Kanda had his hand on the sword.

"Stop!" Allen shouted. "Look, over there! What's that?" He pointed towards the roof of a mosque.

They all looked up and noticed a couple on the roof, a young lady and a man, with dark skin and dressed in elegant, high fashion. Kanda was the first to react and drew his sword, the others following his example and activating their weapons as well.

"I knew it would have been too easy to write a report and leave," Lenalee mumbled to herself.

Allen moved back slowly. "…Um, I think I see a small army behind them. Actually, I'm not sure it's that small."

"How many?" Amara asked, already placing one needle on the ground for support. In her routine, her left needle was for defense and self-support, as well as to break her fall if she were to be hit. Her right needle was for attack, as she was right-handed and had much better control over it.

"Around ten… twelve, no sixteen! Or… I'm lost, I don't know! They're inside the building!" the boy pointed out.

That's when then girl from the roof sat on a golem shaped like an umbrella and floated closer to them, while the man simply jumped, landing on his feet with the ease and grace of a feline.

"Ooh! Tyki, you didn't tell me they were so cute, these new Exorcists!" the girl exclaimed.

The man was smirking. "Perhaps I neglected this detail…"

From the mosque, an impressing number of Akuma began to emerge as the building crumbled under them. Some looked like massive balls of rags and fire arms, while three of them appeared to be more individual and had some kind of armor or exoskeleton protecting them. Amara was the first to jump straight in the middle, trying to dodge their attacks in such a way, that the Akuma would take each other out. Lenalee followed, kicking them with her Dark Boots, while Lavi tried to crush as many as possible. Kanda was by far the most productive in his work, or rather, the most destructive, as Mugen cut through the Level 1 like a hot knife through butter.

What they failed to notice in the heat of battle was that Allen had far greater problems than Akuma. Caught in a trance, his mind was living a very vivid nightmare in a different dimension, where Road was in control of what he saw and what he felt.

"We meet again," Tyki greeted Lavi as two Level 2 cornered him. "Do you have any preference, now that you know your fate?"

The red-haired backed away slowly. If he tried to fight one Akuma, the other would have attacked him while he was left uncovered. If he tried to attack the Noah, the Akuma would certainly tear him apart before he could reach him.

"I would prefer you going to hell!" he tried to sound as if he was still in control of his situation.

Lenalee noticed, and she made her way to Amara.

"Lavi's in trouble! You can fight more Akuma at once, right? Distract those two and I'll cover you."

Not waiting to be told twice, the girl nodded and aimed both of her needles at the Level 2, but Leyla wasn't strong enough to pierce through their armor and the Akuma were left unharmed. However, they did notice her, and were now focused on trying to kill her instead of guarding Lavi. Amara, well aware that she couldn't take down the Level 2, turned to Kanda. With no time for talking, she approached him from behind until they were back to back.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"A little help, maybe!"

The slight panic in her voice made him worry. Amara wasn't the type to ask for help, much less in that fashion. As soon as he saw there were two evolved Akuma after her, Kanda understood her reasons and took them on, as Amara kept all other Level 1 from intervening.

At the same time, Lenalee was now fighting an entire colony of carnivorous butterflies, as well as Tyki's occasional blasts of Dark Matter. Her body was tiring fast, and she could feel her synchronization growing weaker by the minute. The lighter training routine she followed while at the Asian Headquarters was showing its 'benefits' already.

Lavi was struggling to take down the third Level 2, when he noticed Allen standing still. He wouldn't dodge any attacks, he wouldn't even flinch, and he looked terribly absent-minded. As soon as he tried to approach the newbie, the Noah girl stepped in the way.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she chuckled. The girl hugged Allen's unresponsive body and played with his hair. "If you wake him up right now, his mind will be all gone!"

"Step away from him, and we can talk about this," Lavi attempted to reason.

"But he's so cute! Look at this pretty face!" Road framed Allen's face with the palms of her hands.

"I said, step away!" Lavi lifted up his Hammer, but the Level 2 he had been fighting attacked him from behind. Distracted, Lavi felt the speed of a flying object being shot less than an inch from his head. The Level 2 was shooting its arms like giant projectiles, and Lavi was once again running for his life. That's when he saw two simultaneous explosions, Kanda emerging victorious from the toxic fumes of the Akuma. Amara was right behind him, her face covered by an extension of her tall collar.

"Lavi!" Amara yelled. "Help Lenalee, we'll handle these two!"

The red-haired noticed that Lenalee was showing signs of exhaustion, while the Noah she was fighting didn't appear to have any intentions to stop. Still terrified by the way Bookman died, Lavi rushed to her side, crushing the carnivorous creations and charging at the Noah.

To Road, Amara's fighting style was very amusing. She could easily dodge a single thread between two needles, while Amara was having trouble avoiding Allen. The Noah girl kept Allen in her arms, using him as both a shield and a teddy bear.

"Mind telling me your name, since we're both so interested in Allen?"

"I'm Road Kamelot. Nice to meet you!" the girl giggled. "Are you the girl Tyki 'accidentally' missed?"

Amara was intrigued. So, his name was Tyki… "What do you mean, missed?"

"Come on, you have to remember! That Level 1 who didn't shoot you. He said you didn't have Innocence on you, but everybody knows that's just an excuse. You know, the Millennium Earl scolded him for that!"

"Oh, that! But I did fight the thing, though it wasn't I who destroyed it. That was Lavi, the red-haired over there."

Confusion overtook the teenager. "You did? But… That's not what the Earl said."

A sly grin spread on her face as Amara noticed that Road was distracted. She lied, which made the child focus on her memories instead of the present moment. Amara sneaked one needle in between Road and Allen, snatching the boy from her arms and leaving a cut behind. Road began to cry and returned to her uncle, her wound spreading from the right hip to her left shoulder.

"Tyki! Let's go home, I don't want to fight anymore! It hurts…!"

As soon as he noticed that Road was injured, Tyki picked her up and ran away with her. The Earl was going to be mad, but Sheril will go absolutely insane. He will want to know the name of the person who did it, and hunt her down.


	5. Let's play cards!

Returning to the mansion in England, where the rest of the family was gathered in anticipation for the Halloween Royal Masquerade, Tyki took his niece straight to her room.

"But I wanna talk to dad!" she whined.

"You will, but first, you sleep. You have to rest if you want to get better."

In all honesty, Tyki didn't want to deal with Sheril once he was to find out that his precious daughter had as much as a scratch. On their way back, Tyki had the chance to see the wound from Amara's needle. It wasn't really a wound, but a thin cut, barely at the level of the skin. It didn't look intentional either, but Sheril won't care about that.

The second he closed the door to Road's bedroom, he felt the rage in his brother's eyes. The stare was impossible to mistake, like that of a wild lion ready to kill.

"Hello, brother. How did Road do today?"

Tyki could sense the fury and concern in his voice. "Really well."

"She didn't, perhaps… suffer any form of injury, did she?"

"Define injury, please."

"Is my Road hurt?!" the man demanded.

Stepping out of the way, Tyki made his escape through the wall and off into the wide world. Sheril was going to hunt down Amara and take his time torturing her before eventually delivering a finishing blow. She may not even have the pleasure of a finishing blow! It wasn't rare for Sheril's victims to die from blood loss or exhaustion, without him actually killing them off, and that could take days.

Returning to Istanbul, Tyki used Tease to search for the group. The Exorcists were exhausted, so their Innocence fragments were going to be difficult to sense, and most likely, inactive. Once the golems had returned with an answer, he descended among mortals and let his Light side take control. The five were at a cheap hotel in the outskirts of the city, sharing two rooms among them. One of his golems overheard Amara reassuring the rest that she could make enough money to pay for their stay if she juggled with fire in the center of the city, but they rejected the idea. It seemed that Lenalee wasn't feeling well, and Allen was still unconscious, so that meant Amara would have had to go with Lavi or on her own, so that the injured two would have at least one person standing guard.

Tyki asked for the room right next to the one shared by the girls. There was also a small balcony at the end of the hall where he could enjoy his cigarettes and possibly, attract some company. He checked in, paid, then went to occupy his room. Strangely, the feelings of his Light side were even more intense now than they had been in Capmania. He was genuinely worried for Amara, and her unhealthy curiosity about the Noah. Sheril will easily notice it as a major weakness and use it to lure her to a very slow and painful death.

He decided he will wait on the balcony for Amara to appear, disguised in his human form so that the other Exorcists will not recognize him. After a few minutes, Amara walked out of her room with a pack of cigarette and a lighter in hand. She was about to knock on the door that lead to her male friends' room, but then she stopped. She recognized a very intense gaze on the back of her head.

Turning towards him, her eyes widened in recognition. "…Tyki?" she whispered, afraid the others might hear.

The man couldn't help but smile. "It's alright, I won't be long, unless you want that."

Amara joined him on the balcony and closed the door behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"You made a mistake today, very grave. I wanted to warn you…"

She was even more confused than before. "What do you mean?"

"Road is my niece. My brother is extremely protective of her, and probably the most sadistic in our family. Desires, Sheril Kamelot."

"The Federal Minister?" she gasped.

Tyki was surprised she knew him, but then he remembered that people who were interested in politics were probably familiar with the name. There was no way she could have known him in person.

"Yes. Don't fall into his hands…" he warned her. "Don't even think of fighting him, just avoid him altogether. Stay in large groups, get stronger, and be subtle. Become invisible, if possible."

Amara nodded slowly. "Why are you warning me, though? Isn't your job as Noah to hunt us down?"

A dark and twisted grin appeared on his face. "I want the pleasure of killing you myself." He took his dark shades off and revealed himself in his Noah form to her.

Amara leaned with her back against the railway and lit herself a cigarette, perfectly calm.

"You know, I've always wondered how would you look in a suit, back when we were in Campania. Now I know. And do you want to know something else that I found out today? I really like you in a suit."

Tyki was amused. Compliments was one response he had never received before, at least during this incarnation, and especially not after confessing that he had chosen someone as a target.

"Should I feel flattered?"

Amara shrugged. "How should I know? You feel whatever you want to feel. By the way… which memory are you? Lust?"

"What makes you think that?" he grinned.

The girl grinned back. He was attractive enough to be considered tempting, but she wasn't about to reveal this to him. "Just a wild guess. So?"

"I'll let you take another guess."

Amara's eyes had a small sparkle of excitement. "What do I get if I'm right?"

After a moment of thought, Tyki remembered the ball. His family has been pressuring him to bring someone along, a date of some sorts, or a girlfriend, or some female company, if only to have a better reason to turn down the countless marriage proposals his brother received for him.

"…There is a masquerade held every year by the Royals. Noble families are invited. I can get you in, if you guess correctly this time."

The girl inhaled deeply and felt the smoke enter her lungs. Nothing could ever come out of this, but it was clear to both of them that they were beginning to form a connection. Hell, if nothing else, they could kill some time together. She let out the smoke above her head, and it twisted in swirls towards the moon.

"You said your brother is Desires… And Lust is out of the way, so I'd say… Pleasure? Joyd. Is that right?"

Tyki chuckled. "Don't bring your Innocence with you. Road will recognize it."

As he was about to jump over the railway, Amara caught his arm.

"You said you won't be long, unless… I want that. The others don't know your human appearance, and besides, if Sheril Kamelot is so enraged over a little scratch, I don't think he'll be in a good mood tonight."

Tyki could see the logic behind her assumptions. He did tell her quite a lot of information, so her reasoning was very close to reality.

"What do you propose?"

"Why don't you stay with us for a while?"

After a moment of hesitation, Tyki found a good excuse and decided it would be worth the risk. He never loved the high society and being in the same mansion with his furious brother, switching between crying over Road's suffering and threatening to destroy the earth in search of the one responsible, was simply not his definition for a quiet, pleasant evening.

The man placed his dark glasses back and allowed his Light side to come to the surface.

"You know, I'm surprised by your reactions," his Light side told her as soon as it was in control. "My Dark side, too, but it's easier to admit when I'm in control."

Amara chuckled and offered him a cigarette. "Payback time."

"I don't mind this kind of payback." Tyki took it and then used his lighter.

"…I don't take life too seriously. I've seen death in all of its brutality, but at the end of the day, we can't really avoid it. Even Noah die, right? And then you reawaken in somebody else, but I suppose you're pretty darn aware of your own death!"

Tyki leaned against the railway. "I suppose… I don't remember."

"Hmm… Wanna go inside after this? The uniform is so heavy right now, it's weighting me down," she said with a note of self-ridicule.

"After this," he agreed, taking another drag.

Lavi walked out of his room wearing only a pair of shorts. He noticed Amara smoking with someone and he opened the door to the balcony.

"Hi! Hey, Amara? Allen woke up. He seems fine, but doesn't make much sense. You've known him for some time, right? Won't you try to translate what he's saying?"

The girl put out her cigarette and threw away the butt. "What's he saying?"

"Maybe you should hear it for yourself?"

Lavi eyed the stranger with suspicion, which quickly turned to worry. It wasn't safe for any ordinary person to be around Exorcists, much less to know of Akuma and the details of their existence.

"What happened to your friend?" Tyki asked, just because his Dark side urged him to play along.

"We fought earlier today and he passed out. It happens, sometimes," Amara answered before Lavi could bluff it. "It's alright. I told him we're Exorcists and what not. I'll explain, but for now, trust me that it's alright."

Confused, Lavi stepped out of the way and let Amara go into their room. Tyki threw away the cigarette butt, and then entered the hotel hallway. He looked through the halfway opened door and heard Allen blabbering about destructed souls and candle spikes. His Dark side was really amused, recognizing Road's games being described, but his Light side had to do everything in its power not to burst into laughter. That would have been strange, to say the least.

Amara sat beside him on the bed, took Allen's shoulders and shook him.

"Wake up! Hey, it's alright, you're safe. Nobody is destroying any souls, okay?"

Allen was crying, shaking his head. "N-No, no, no, she destroyed… Akuma not exorcised… The soul destroyed, it's destroyed! Not free, gone! Shattered! Stabbed with candles, flying candle sticks spikes…"

Quickly realizing there was no point in trying to reason with him, Amara lowered her voice and stood up in front of him, overshadowing Allen. She had her hair free, which she hoped will make him remember the figure of their master. The girl slapped him over the face as hard as she could.

"Idiot apprentice! Stop blabbering!"

Kanda was shocked by the sudden change of attitude. Allen was even more stunned, half of his face burning while the other half was suffocating between the sheets of his bed. Lavi ran inside, while Tyki watched from the doorway. What was that just now?

Allen suddenly stood up with a dark look in his eyes and his Innocence active, ready to attack Amara. "You demon!"

"Ha!" she laughed. "I knew that would wake you up! It's me, shorty!"

Looking around, Allen deactivated his Innocence and cupped his bruising cheek.

"That really hurt…"

"Well, if you wouldn't snap out of your trance nicely…"

"You didn't have to hit me so hard," he whined.

"Our master would have sent you flying! You should be thankful I have such light hands."

Amara stretched her arms above her head. "I'll go change in something lighter. These boots weight a ton after today's battle!"

"Who's that?" Kanda demanded as he glared towards the intruder.

"That's Tyki. Long story short, I took a few months off in Campania while our master trained Allen solo. I'm a fire juggler in my free time, that's my hobby, and he's my biggest fan!"

Before anyone could ask her any questions, Amara was already into the girls' room, and since she said she was going to change her clothes, which implied undressing, the boys felt awkward about going after her.

Tyki gave them a little nervous smile and a wave of his hand. "Hi."

Since Amara didn't seem very convincing, Kanda turned his glare towards Lavi. The two did come into the room with him, after all, but Lavi quickly lifted up his hands in self defense.

"Don't look at me that way, I don't know anything!"

"…I don't buy that story," Kanda stated.

With all eyes on him, Tyki found himself the center of everyone's attention.

"It's true," he said, trying to maintain the appearances. "She's really talented."

"What are you doing here?" Kanda asked.

"I'm looking for work. I'm a traveler, I really love life and so, I thought it'd be nice to experience all the cultures of the world."

Allen stood up and walked towards Tyki, unaware of his true identity. He extended his right hand, his Innocence inactive.

"I'm Allen! Nice to meet you! I knew Amara stayed in Campania for a while, but she never said anything about making friends."

That was odd. Were they friends? Tyki smiled and sighed in relief, as he shook hands with Allen. "Phew! For a moment, you got me thinking maybe I should, you know, get lost and forget about the booking and all that. I sure don't want to get on the bad side of Exorcists!"

Amara and Lenalee walked out of their room. The girls were not wearing their equip-type Innocence pieces, respectively Leyla and the Dark Boots. Amara was in a pair of pretty short shorts and a plain tank top with a goofy-looking snake printed on it. Lenalee was in a short night gown with sleepy bunnies, stars and moons.

The first thing that Kanda, Lavi and Tyki noticed was that Amara's legs were covered in burn scars. The skin had healed, but there were still patches every here and there where one could see just how serious her injuries had been. Allen knew about it and Lenalee had found out a minute sooner, so they were trying their best to distract everyone so they won't stare.

Amara introduced Tyki to Lenalee. The Exorcist did find him very familiar, but she decided to ignore her gut and just trust her friends instead. After all, if everyone was calm around the stranger, it meant he was harmless, right?

"I know! Let's play cards, and Amara could learn too!" Allen suggested.

"How about a truth or dare?" she suggested.

"Or a drinking game?" Lavi hesitantly proposed. "We couldn't do that at the Order."

Amara shot him a look. "Allen is fifteen. Fifteen!"

"And I don't drink alcohol," Kanda stated.

"Why not, Yu? It'd be fun! We'll get you and Allen apple juice shots!"

Kanda crossed his hands over his chest as an attempt to hold back from punching Lavi.

"I'll call the reception and ask if they have any board games," Lenalee offered.

"Who plays board games anymore?" Allen asked innocently.

Amara took him under her arm and messed up his hair. "Kids who remember the world before the Civil War and the European Federation! Come on, shorty, it was sixteen years ago, don't you remember?"

Allen struggled to find his freedom. "Clearly not! I wasn't even born!"

"You were on your way," she laughed.

Lenalee clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"Alright! We'll go order pizza, drinks and snacks, while you can change in your pajamas, and you can all come to our room! What do you say? We can decide later what we'll do."

Lavi hugged Kanda. "Heard that, Yu? It's PJ's time!"

Kanda pushed him away. "I don't use such things!"

Before Lavi could think of a comeback, Amara eyed him in a very suggestive way. "Is that why you lock your door when you sleep?"

"You tried my door?!"

"I was just curious. Now I'm even more curious!"

Lavi began to laugh and clapped. "Yu, you didn't tell me you have an admirer!"

"I do not!" Kanda snapped.

"But don't worry, Yu, 'cause I've got a spare set of PJ's just for you!"

"I'm not wearing anything-!"

"Ooh, Kanda, weren't you supposed to say that in private?"

Amara continued messing with him. As Knada was sitting by the wall, she went as far as to crawl towards him and force herself into his arms and lap, which combined with Lavi leaning on his side and hugging his shoulders, made Kanda even more furious. Kanda stood up and tried to grab his sword, but Amara was wrapped around his leg.

"Come on, Kanda, you know we were just joking around, right? You're still hot, but the rest was only a joke."

Lavi reached into his bag. "Except this part. Pirate Kitty PJ'S!"

"I'd rather die than go through such humiliation!"

"Okay, okay, then… Citrus Power PJ's!"

Kanda looked at both outfits. They were shorts and a plain T-shirt, except one was blue with orange cats in pirate clothes on it, and the other was yellow with fruits and leaves. They both looked girly to him.

"No way in hell I'm wearing any of these!"

Tyki couldn't believe his eyes. The Exorcists were all acting like kids, or maybe with a few exceptions, but still kind of immature. It was a very off image, in great contrast with the seriousness and professionalism he was used to witnessing from them. Road would have fit right into this group, Sheril would have probably joined Amara in harassing Kanda, Jasdero and Devit would have made an even greater mess… All of these thoughts made his Light side wonder if this war made any sense at all.

On the other side, his Dark didn't like the image of Amara all over her colleague and even clinging to his leg. He did want to see her on all fours at somebody's feet, but only on the condition that somebody would be himself. Oh, and those very short… pants. Regardless of any scars, the shape of her body was still there, to put it that way.

Lenalee dragged Amara off Kanda quite literally, by pulling her ankles.

"Come on, let them change!"

Amara didn't seem to mind. Instead of fighting for her freedom, she was posing and waving. Tyki stared after the girls long after they had left the room.

"…Is she always this way?"

Allen, who was staring at his feet out of embarrassment, nodded. "Once she gets comfortable around people…"

"Not only then," Kanda corrected him.

Lavi held both sets of pajamas for Kanda to see. "Don't pretend you don't like being around her! So, Pirate Kitty or Citrus Power?"

Allen couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sure you'd look adorable in either one, Kanda."

At that moment, Kanda picked up his sword and aimed it at Allen. "Say that again!"

"What's wrong, can't take a compliment?" Allen had activated his Innocence and was using it to block Kanda's attack.

Lavi stepped in between. "If Lenalee and Amara see you two fighting each other again…!"

"Stupid! Always fighting someone!"

"You're asking for it, Bean sprout!"

Tyki took the blue set of pajamas from Lavi. "If he doesn't want it, I might as well try to fit with the crowd, right?"

Secretly glad he didn't have to dress up in something so ridiculous, Kanda remained in the room as the other three changed their clothes. In the mean time, Lenalee and Amara had ordered food and drinks.

"Komui told me you were trained by General Cross. How is he as a mentor?" Lena asked as they pushed the two beds together to create a larger sitting surface.

Amara knew that her master didn't get along with the politics of the Black Order. "He's a really wonderful professor."

"People usually say he's a little too rough and that he has controversial means."

The girl shrugged. "He is a very exigent professor, and he has insanely high expectations, but I like him as a person so I guess that makes me judge him differently. Allen says his experience was horrible, but I'd say it was fruitful. You know how it goes – if you're going through hell, keep walking."

Lenalee sat on the corner of the bed and curved one leg underneath herself. "That's interesting. People usually compare General Cross with General Socalo."

"Who's that?" Amara asked. A thought was rooting in her mind, but she wanted to obtain more information about this General before making her decision.

"He's the General that the Black Order fears. He's very, very sadistic and cruel, reckless… A force of nature. I heard he took up a team of three new Exorcists last year, but they're always away training or in the medical wing, in intensive care."

The girl shook her head. "Our master is nothing like that! I'm sure he loves Allen and I, though he's a little colder and doesn't show much of his feelings. To get an idea, whenever General Cross opens his mouth, I have the urge to record or at least take notes of what he's saying. The man is a living, breathing library! I've nothing but respect and admiration for him."

The other nodded. "Yes, he worked in the Science department for a few years. If only he wasn't so rebellious and the Order trusted him more, he could be in charge of the entire Black Archive! But he has this habit of disappearing for years and… I heard he's into the occult."

Amara tried to look surprised. She knew about it, but didn't feel safe talking about her master's fascination with Lenalee. "I've got no idea."

Thankfully, there was a knock on the door and their food-delivery robot arrived. The girls unloaded it just as the boys were coming out of the room. There was also a small collection of classic games meant for families and friends, with dice, cards, and pawns.

A few minutes later, the three Exorcists and undercover Noah joined them. Kanda stood out as he was the only one still in his uniform, though he had left his coat and shoes in their room. Allen had a plain pajama, his shorts in vertical stripes of red and yellow and his shirt a block red without any other pattern.

"I'm sorry if we made you wait too long," Allen apologized.

"It's alright," Lenalee reassured him. "You're just on time! I think we have everything we need, right?" she looked at Amara.

The girl shrugged. "You're the game experts, not me," she laughed. "I'll have to write in my journal so I don't fall behind too much, just go ahead and start without me."

Tyki crawled on the bed between Lenalee and Amara, crossing his legs and hunching forward.

"I say we play some cards for now."

Allen nodded. "Can I sit next to you?"

Surprised he asked, Lenalee nodded. "Sure! Come on!"

Lavi dragged Kanda along. "You can sit with Amara, Yu! I'm sure she'll love it," he laughed.

"Why you…!"

"I will, actually," the girl agreed with a smirk.

With no other option, Kanda sat between Amara and Lavi. "I'm only here because of him," he said as he eyed the stranger. "I don't trust him."

"Yeah, yeah, you're babysitting. You said that before, Yu, and nobody believes you. Not even Komui," Lavi went on laughing.

Amara had her backpack at the foot of the bed and she took out her journal and a pen. She began writing fast, her letters small and neat, slightly bent towards the left side. Tyki caught a few words over her shoulder, his eyes shaded by his glasses.

_Dear journal,_

_This morning we've been sent into our first official mission by the BO. The BO has numerous hotels and resorts all over the world for Exorcists, Finders and Supporters, and one was destroyed by a Noah and possibly some Akuma two days ago in Istanbul. Clues:_

_-top button of Exorcist's uniform missing (4 Ex.)  
-clothes left behind without corpses, chewing marks resembling moths or grasshoppers  
-butterfly found pinned to chopping board by Chef's knife (~30cm wingspan, pattern resembling spades, black and dark violet, physical strength of a small bird, carnivorous)_

_We've had our fight today and it seems I've made a 'grave mistake'. I believe I had scratched a Noah girl, Road Kamelot, who was holding Allen at the time. It wasn't my intention, but I've been warned Sheril Kamelot will come after me. _

_Lenalee Lee: introduced by Komui, appears loyal to the BO., back from an exchange with the Asian branch, used to be Kanda's pair_

_Lavi: terrified of Noah, especially Tyki, after he killed Lavi's former pair, Bookman_

_Research when back at BOHQ:_

_-Gen. Socalo(LL: 'the General the BO fears')  
-Bookman (death details)  
-Gen. Cross (Science Department activity & pair/s)  
-Road Kamelot (any mind control reference)  
-Sheril Kamelot (previous encounters) _

_Note: Sh.K. 'most sadistic' – must find references in Black Archive; LL said Gen.C. could have been in charge and knows K well enough to gain access_

_Note2: remember Royal Masquerade 31st Oct., find mask & dress_

_Istanbul,  
7th Oct. _


End file.
